Don’t Walk Under the Ladder, Bad Luck may Stream Upon You! Scientific Reason Behind Common Belief

Whether you are superstitious or not, you probably have been warned not to walk under ladders, mainly by believers who believe that you will bring a stream of bad luck down upon yourself.

Beliefs around the Ladder:

The simple ladder has attracted an incredible range of supernatural beliefs. This belief that walking under a ladder brings bad fortune not just holds strong today, it was thought long while back in 3100 BC to the times of ancient Egypt, as depicted in the ancient hieroglyphics, artwork and even modern documentaries.

Ladders were commonly placed in tombs and later larger pyramids in an attempt to allow the spirits of the dead to ascend if they chose to. But there was a small catch, it was believed that the triangle formed by the ladder when leaned to the wall caught various passing spirits both good and bad and that if one would walk beneath the ladder, they can look up and see either spirits or gods through the steps.

It was also believed that this could kill someone and if it didn’t it would bring them a terrible fortune. Furthermore, it was believed that the action of walking through space under the ladder would disturb surrounding spirits and would act as an open invitation for the evil and demonic entities to follow one around the same timeframe.

Also, the ancient Egyptians believed that a ladder links us to heaven. This is seen in the bible when Jacob dreams of a ladder with angels climbing up and down. Many also adopted the strange belief that, if you accidentally crossed under a ladder you could hold your thumb between your index and middle finger, an action repeatedly capable of restoring balance.

In European folklore to dream of ascending a ladder meant good fortune while descending one foretold bad time. The most pervasive superstition around ladders is the walking under one brings bad luck.

Early Christians avoided the underside of ladders due to depictions of a ladder propped against the crucifix. Some believed that the devil lurked at the bottom, leading many to consider it a symbol of deception death, and evil.

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Christians also believe that when a ladder leans against a wall it forms a triangle with three tips and those three tips represent the holy trinity: The Father, The Son, and the Holy Ghost. This is the reason why they prohibit the crossing of the space between the ladder and the wall, they believe that passing through that space is an act of disturbing or disrespecting the holy trinity which ultimately results in a stream of misfortune.

Many claim that walking under a ladder is an open invitation to the demonic forces to attach themselves to the unknown walkers. Christians thought that one could undo the evil after walking through by either forming crosses with fingers while asking for protection from the god or by spitting three times for holy trinity to keep the evil spirits at bay.

In medieval England, when a ladder was often leaned against the gallows before an execution word began to spread that those who walked under these ladders were welcoming death. Which later turned into a belief about not just the execution ladders but all the ladders.

In ancient Asian societies, prisoners were hung from the top steps of the ladder, and onlookers were forbidden to pass beneath for fear of encountering the victim ghosts. They believed that the leaned ladder acts as a gateway for the souls. In France, convicts were forced to walk beneath the ladder leading to the gallows. The doomed man’s final unlucky act.

Theories:

This superstition still holds strong and many people give a logical reason behind it to have the new generation understand that not just superstitiously but logically it is dangerous to walk under the ladder.

The reason they give which is a valid point to consider that if a ladder is leaned against a wall that means someone is working on top of it, therefore, if you walk and accidentally wobble the ladder the person can fall and get hurt or he can fall on you and you can get hurt.

And you don’t want anything to fall on your head by mistake while your walking under the ladder which can lead you to have a serious injury.

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